Ski holder



Ioct. 1s, 1960 l. W. LUNDQUIST SKI HOLDER Filed Oct. 5, V1956 INVENTOR wBY Mm `18 ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 2,956,812 Patented Oct.18,

2,956,812 sm HOLDER Ivan W. Lundqust, 496 Shrewsbury St., Holden, Mass.i oci. ys, 1956,Y sehr. No. 614,321

4 claims. (cl. 28o-11.31) (negated under 'ripe 3s, U.s. code (1952),sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured andused byor for the Government for governmental purposes twithout the payment ofany royalty thereon.

1 lvThe present invention relates to a holder or support .for skis, andmore particularly to means for supporting skis whi'le'not in use.

' An important object of the invention is the provision of means tosupport a pair of skis from a wall or other surface in such'fashion asto take up a small amount of space vwhile maintaining the desired shapeof the skis.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support of thistype-"which is of simple and inexpensive construction, whicvh is readilyinstalled in any suitable location, and whichtakes up very little space.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

' In th'e'dr'awingzm i Inthe accompanying drawings, which form a part ofSpecification" and'wheiein 'like characters of reference denote likeparts throughout, y lFigure 1 is' a front elevation of the Vski holderof the present invention, showing a pair of skis supported by theholder,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the end clamps of the skiholder,

Figure 3 is a top plan View off the end clamp showing its position withthe skis inserted therein,

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the blank from which the end clamp ismade, with lines indicating the fold points on the blank,

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the spreader element of theski holder, and

Figure 7 is a perspective View of a spreader having a modified securingmeans.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates theelongated strip blank from which each of the end clamps is fashioned,and a rectangular base tab 11 is shown as integrally formed on itscenter section and bent back upon such section. Obviously the base tab11 may be separately formed, if desired, and secured to blank 10 bywelding or riveting. The center section 12 of the strip blank 10cooperates with tab 11 to form the base of the clamp and suitableopenings 13 are provided in the tab 11 and center section 12 to receivescrews or other means 14 for securing the clamp to a wall or othersupporting surface 15. At each end of base section 12 the blank 10 isbent through an angle which slightly exceeds 90 to form slightlyconverging clamp sides 16 extending a substantial distance away from thebase of the clamp. The outer portions of the blank 10 are then bentinwardly to form clamping arms 17 arranged in spaced parallel relationto each other and substantially at right angles to the base section 12.The extreme tip ends of arms 17 are each bent over at a right angle toform stops or inner abutments 18 which normally abut each other, as seenin Figure 2, at a point 'spaced a substantial distance from the basesection 12, thereby forming `a split end wall for the space betweenparallel clamping arms 17. The portions 19 of the blank which connectthe arms 17 `and outer clamp sides 16 are smoothly curved or` rounded sothat skis may be readily forced between the arms y17, the curvedportions 19 Serving as guides for the skis.

' In use' the end clamps are secured to a wall, ceiling, door or othersupport in spaced relation to engage a pair of skis near the endsthereof. The spacing of the two clamps will Vary for yskis of differentlengths, and where the Aclamps'are fastened to an intermediate supportwhich ,in tprn `is fastenedfto a wall or the like, such intermediatesippbrt'shldbe yadju/stable as to length to adapt itself to' skis ofvarying lengths. A pair of skis 20 is disposed bottom yto bottom andforced into the space between the arms 17 of each end clamp, adjacentthe top and bottom portions of theskis, as rillustrated in Figure l. Thearms 17 of each end clampl are normally maintained in parallel relationby the tension of clamp sides 16 and the spacing action of the innerabutments 18. When theskis are forced into the clamp, their inner sideswill engage the abutments 18, as shown in Figure 3, which serve as stopsand the clamping pressure of arms 17 will be substantiallyr constantacross the width of the skis, due to the shape of the clamp and theinclination of the clamp sides 16.

As seen in Figure l, when arranged sole to sole and inserted in the twoend clamps the skis are pressed together at eachend with the curved orsprung toes extending away from each other, and the heels also extendingsomewhat away from each other. The portion of each ski between the endclamps is longitudinally curved or cambered, and in order to maintain such curvature or camber, an intermediate spreader is provided andcomprises a substantially rectangularbody portion 21 in the fo-rm of aplate of any suitable material such as metal, having its side edges bentover in opposite directions to form flanges 22 which are preferablysubstantially parallel. The body portion 21 extends diagonally from oneilange 22 to the other, forming with the two flanges a spreader which issubstantially Z-shaped in cross-section, and which is substantiallywider than the skis 20. As seen in Figures 1 and 6 a slotted orbifurcated shaft 23 receives the central portion of the spreader body 21which is firmly secured in the slotted portion of the shaft 23 as bywelding or rivets. The end of shaft 23 is reduced at 24 for rotatablereception in the socket 25 of a socket-plate 26. In order to restrictrotational movement of the shaft 23 to an arc of ninety degrees, theside wall of the socket 25 s provided with a quadrant slot 27. A pin 28extends through slot 27 into the reduced end 24 of shaft 23 to which itis fixed, as by a force t. Other suitable means may be provided forpivotally supporting the spreader if desired.

As illustrated in Figure l, the socket plate 26 is secured to the wallor supporting surface 15 at the point of maximum camber of the ski, andin its inoperative position the spreader body 21 will assume a positionparallel to the skis. When the skis have been properly positioned in theend clamps, the spreader is rotated through its arc of ninety degrees tothe spreading position shown in Figure 1. In this illustration, thespreader has been rotated in a clockwise direction so that the roundededges where the flanges 22 meet the body portion 21 will engage the skisin the spreading operation. In the fully spread position, the anges 22engage the skis to hold them apart.

It is not necessary to mount the spreader on a rotatable shaft, as itmay be freely movable, but in order to prevent loss and be properlypositioned it should be secured to the wall or other supporting surface15, as by means of a flexible cable 29 indicated in Figure 7. However,in

order to prevent possible damage to the skis by scraping of the flangeedges, it is preferable to have some mounting such as shown in Figure 6to positively restrict the rotational movement of the spreader, both asto direction and extent, so that during rotation to spreading position,only the curved edges of the flanges 22 where theyvjoin the body portion21 will engage the skis to force them apart.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that various changes in the size,shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a ski support, means to clamp a pair of skis adjacent each end inan edgewise sole to sole relation, and a spreader element pivotallyarranged between said skis at a point intermediate said clamping means,said spreader element being movable from a position substantiallyparallel to the ski soles to a position substantially normal to saidskis and in spreading engagement with the soles of the skis, and meansto restrict the pivotal movement of the spreader to the area betweensaid two positions.

2. In a ski support, means to clamp a pair of skis adjacent to each endin an edgewise sole to sole relation, and a spreader element disposedbetween said skis at a point between said clamping means, said spreaderelement being movable from a position substantially parallel to the skisole to a position substantially normal to said skis and in spreadingengagement with the soles of the skis, said spreader comprising a platehaving its edges bent over to form substantially parallel oppositelyextending skiengaging ilanges.

3. In a ski support, means to clamp a pair of skis adjacent each end inan edgewise sole to sole relation, and a spreader element pivotallyarranged between said skis at a point intermediate said clamping means,said spreader element being movable from a position substantiallyparallel to the ski soles to a position substantially normal to saidskis and in spreading engagement with the soles of the skis, and meansto restrict the pivotal movement of the spreader to the area betweensaid two positions, said spreader comprising a plate having its edgesbent over to form substantially parallel oppositely extendingski-engaging flanges, said anges extending away from the plate in adirection counter to the direction of rotation of the spreader as it ismoved from its position parallel to the ski soles to its spreadingposition.

4. In a ski support, means to support a pair of skis adjacent their endsin an edgewise sole to sole relation, said supporting means comprising aclamp at each end of the pair of skis, each clamp comprising anelongated stn'p bent upon itself to form a resilient clamp having abase, a pair of sides converging away from the base, and inwardlyextending parallel arms having a curved connection with said sides andbent over at their inner ends to form abutments spaced from the clampbase, the abutments normally engaging each other to maintainthe spacedparallel relation of the arms and serving as stops to engage the sideedges of the skis and maintain the skis in spaced relation to the baseof the clamp, and a spreader element disposed between said skis at apoint intermediate the clamps, said spreader element being movable froman inoperative position substantially parallel to the ski soles to anoperative position substantially normal to said ski soles and inspreading engagement with the soles of the skis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS PoorSept. 18, 1945

